A Chilliwack man convicted of relatively minor crimes was sentenced to six years in prison thanks, at least in part, to his career criminality.
John Frederick Field was convicted of a failed robbery and a break-and-enter where he got $100, and a sexual assault where he ended up getting kicked in the groin.
Since the 58-year-old has spent 32 of his 40 adult years behind bars, Crown counsel Henry Waldock told BC Supreme Court Justice Thomas Crabtree that Field is unmanageable in the community and deserved a nine-year sentence.
“How bad is Mr. Field’s criminal record?” Waldock said in Chilliwack BC Supreme Court on May 21. “He has spent most of his adult life in jail…. He actually spent over 32 years in custody in the last 40 years. Even with remissions, even with bail terms and so on, he spent 32 years in custody. How did that happen? He breaches a lot and he’s been in custody before trial.”
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Back in 2018, Field sneaked on to the ground floor balcony of a Chilliwack man’s apartment. The man was home sleeping in a chair by the door, and Field stole his wallet and keys. Field then went down to the parking garage clicking the key fob in an attempt, presumably, to steal the vehicle. But the victim had parked on the street that day so he failed. He got $100 out of the wallet, then he tried to car-jack a woman in the parking garage but failed.
For those two crimes he was convicted of break and enter and attempted robbery.
He then went to a massage parlour, after which he went to find a place to snort crystal meth. He found his way into a commercial building where he confined a woman in her office. He ingested his meth, masturbated in front of the woman and told her to take off her clothes. She told him to get out, he lunged at her touched her chest, and she kicked him in the groin, then in the backside on the way out the door.
For that he was convicted of sexual assault.
Because of his extensive criminal record and unapologetic behaviour in the community, Waldock asked Justice Crabtree to impose three three-year sentences to run consecutively.
At the sentencing hearing in May, Field had already spent 825 days in pre-trial custody.
In BC Supreme Court on Aug. 21 2020, Crabtree sentenced Field to 275 days for the sexual assault, 276 days for the break and enter, and 275 days for the robbery, all to run consecutively.
The sentence was, in effect, six years, with two years and three months of more time in prison in addition to time served.
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